SPRINGDALE -- The Tulsa Drillers didn't overpower Northwest Arkansas on Sunday afternoon, they just beat them one base at a time.
Tulsa completed a four-game sweep with a 10-2 win and snapped the Naturals' four-game Mother's Day winning streak in front of 4,014 at Arvest Ballpark.
Tulsa (18-17) earned its first series sweep of the season with an offensive onslaught, banging out a series-high 18 hits with 14 singles.
"You get around baseball long enough and you see everything, but I'm really proud of the work the guys have put in," Tulsa Manager Ryan Garko said. "We talk about keep working hard and getting better, and some of the things we've talked about offensively look like they're starting to take a little bit, the quality of the at-bat."
Tulsa hit .366 in the series with 60 hits in the four games.
"They say hitting is contagious, and they're right," Garko said. "We talk about controlling the strike zone and making the pitcher work and getting on base. We did a really good job of that this series."
Northwest Arkansas was coming off a four-game sweep of the Arkansas Travelers.
"It's funny how the game works," Northwest Arkansas Manager Vance Wilson said. "We sweep a team and execute with incredible intent, and we lost our intent once they had a couple of hits. The whole series we lost it."
Tulsa scored 37 runs in 36 innings of play in the series.
"I thought we shied away from what we should have done," Wilson said. "We didn't pitch anybody in. We threw too many fastballs, and they're a fastball-hitting team. We got our ass kicked the whole series, 100 percent."
Sunday, tied at 2-2, Tulsa scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Wynston Sawyer, who had three hits Sunday, started a string of six straight singles with a solid base rap up the middle. Johan Miesus, Stetson Allie, Matt Beaty, Tim Locastro and Michael Ahmed followed with hits for a 5-2 lead. After a strikeout, Kyle Farmer scored Beaty with a sacrifice fly, and Kyle Garlick had Tulsa's seventh single of the inning for a 7-2 cushion, scoring Locastro.
All nine batters in Tulsa's order had hits Sunday.
"Some of the guys are starting to find their rhythm in the box," Garko said. "I'm proud of the fight one through nine."
Northwest Arkansas (18-16) did limit Miesus to just a single Sunday in five at-bats, but the 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic finished the series with six runs, six hits, eight RBIs, 19 total bases and four homers in 18 at-bats.
Miesus entered the series hitting .068 with four hits in 58 at-bats. Last year, Miesus led the Class A-Advanced California League with 28 homers in 122 games.
"He's one of the younger players in the league, and it's been a slow start," Garko said. "We believe strongly in him as a prospect. He's finding the jump from the Cal League to the Texas League is a pretty large as many have discovered. He's put in a ton of work, and it's nice to see the results, but behind closed doors in the cage we know it's going to come with Johan. It's just a matter of time if he continues to work the way he is."
SHORT HOPS
• Northwest Arkansas suffered its first Mother's Day loss in five years and fell to 7-3 all-time on the holiday.
• Tulsa had double-digit hits all four games of the series and was 60-of-164 batting in the series for a .366 clip.
• The Drillers never trailed in the series and led for 26 of the 36 innings.
On Deck: The Naturals begin an eight-game road swing, beginning in North Little Rock against the Travelers. Righty Miguel Almonte (1-0, 1.78) earns the start for Northwest Arkansas. It marks the first start since Almonte tore a fingernail on May 7 after pitching a scoreless first inning against the Travelers. Lindsey Caughel (2-3, 4.05) will start for Arkansas. The 6-3 righty gave up three hits and two earned runs in six innings and was the pitcher of decision in a 3-1 loss at Northwest Arkansas on May 9.
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Sports on 05/15/2017